Ladies&#39; handbag



March 8, 1960 s. HYMAN LADIES HANDBAG Filed March 24, 1958 SIDNEY Hymn/v A rrop/vc vs liniwdstatss v Farm This invention relates to ladies handbags and the like and more particularly to a light portable receptacle of the type including at least one still wall and at least one pliable wall adapted to be secured to the stiff wall.

One of the principal drawbacks of a bag of the character described is that the connection between the stiff and pliable walls cannot easily or inexpensively be made durable. When, for example, the stiff wall constitutes the bottom of a handbag, the aforesaid connection carries the full weight of the bags contents so that unless a complex and costly structure is utilized to effect the connection, the pliable wall will deform in a short time and the stiff wall will fall out. The same difficulty is experienced, although to a lesser degree, in the side wall and'partitions of handbags. Accordingly, conventional handbags almost invariably have sacrificed durability to cheapness with the result that after a relatively short period of use the stiff walls have become detached, thereby rendering the bags useless.

Experience has shown that to be practical a handbag of 'any quality, i.e., degree of expensiveness, 'must'be equipped with a bottom closure able to withstand not only ordinary pressures but also those caused by stuifing the bags full as women are quite often prone to do in addition to the shocks caused by dropping the bag or accidentally banging it down on some sharp object. Unless the stiff-pliable wall connection is durable enough to withstand these abuses for a considerable length of time, the article will not last long at all and will constitute a cheap and poor article of merchandise.

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide an article of the character described which is inexpensive to manufacture and is sturdy, durable, light and attractive to the eye.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an article of the character described having a con nection of the character described which is secure, longlasting and relatively unbreakable even when subjected to hard use for prolonged periods of time.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an article of the kind wherein the aforesaid connection is simple, is made of inexpensive materials and can be utilized with great ease and without the use of complicated machines or skilled labor.

Other objects of this invention will in part be obvious and in part will be pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter described, and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which is shown one of the various possible embodiments of this invention,

Fig. l is a side perspective view of a ladys handbag embodying the instant invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line 2-.-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged partially broken away sectional view taken substantially along theline 33 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is an exploded view of the bag showing the various parts thereof; and p Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the element for connecting a stiff wall to a pliable wall, hereinafter referred to as a stiff-pliable wall connecting element.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the reference. numeral 1-0 denotes a ladys handbag constructed in accordance with the instant invention. The handbag is of a conventional type having a curved pliable front wall I panel 12 the ends of which are secured to the ends of a similar curved pliable back wall panel 14 whereby to form an open-ended pliable receptacle. The aforesaid panels are made of any pliable material, such, for ex:

ample, as leather, fabric-or plastic, and the ends 16, 18 of the bag are joined to one another in any suitable mane neras by pronged rivets 20.

The top edges 22 of the front. and back panels may be convexly curved, and the handbag shown in the drawingis not arranged to be closed at the top although, of course, it could be so designed if desired. A conventional adjustable carrying strap 24 is secured by rings 26 to strap supports 27 fastened to the sides of the bag by the aforesaid rivets 20 at the timethe said rivets are set in place.

Pursuant to the present invention, the bottom-closure is effected by a novel stiff-pliable 'wall connecting ele} ment and a stiff bottom 'wall panel 23 of any desired shape, here shown as'oval. The shape of said bottom panel will determine the transverse contour of the bag. The aforesaid element and bottom panel constitute-a strong and well secured bottom closure which, as will appear hereinafter, is simple and inexpensive to make. The bottom panel may be made from any stiff durable material, e.g. thick cardboard, While the connecting element constitutes a flexible track member 30 which con;- veniently is an extruded shape of thermoplastic material, e.g. vinyl acetate.

The member 30, which can best be seen in Figs. 2 and 5, is in the form of an elongated strip including a wall 32 from which two integral spaced parallel lips 34 extend at right angles thereto to form between them a groove or track 36. One of the lips is located adjacent one longitudinal edge 'of the wall, and the other lip is spaced from the first mentioned lip a distance barely greater than the thickness of the bottom panel. The section 38 of the wall remote from said lips and near the other longitudinal edge of the wall constitutes an attaching means for the member.

The track member is attached along and adjacent the bottom edges of the front and back wall panels by a circumferential line of stitching 39. Said line of stitching passes through the section 38 of the member, the front and back panels, and a flexible trim strip 40 provided to cover the bottom edges of the member and the front and back panels. The strip 4-0 may be made of plastic and in addition to its decorative function also aids in stiffening the section 38.

The ends of the track member desirably meet at one side junction of the front and back panels, and at this point the member is additionally held in place by two pronged rivets,42 each of which passes through a different end of the track and also functions to effect the aforementioned side closure and the attachment of the strap support. The bottom wall is captively secured in the track member between the two lips. Inasmuch as the ends of the track member are closely adjacent to one another, the track 36 is effectively a closed one and the periphery of the bottom wall' is fully seated therein with no noticeable play.

To effect the bottom closure, one pair of ends of the front and back panels is overlapped and joined, as with pronged rivets, leaving the other set of ends free. The track member'then is placed on the inner surfaces of the front and back panels along the bottom edges thereof, and the flexible trim strip doubled and placed over the inner surface of section 38, the bottom edges of the track member and front and back panels, and over the outer surface of the front and back panels, with the ends of the track member adjacent and spaced slightly inwardly of the free ends of the front and back panels. Next, the stitching 39 is sewed through the trim strip, the section 38, and the front and back panels. Now the track 36 is wrapped around the periphery of the bottom wall panel, and the free ends of the front and back panel are'pulled tight so that the bottom wall panel is firmly caught in said track. Finally, the rivets 42 are set into place to tightly hold the bottom wall in the track memher. After this the remaining pair of ends of the front and back panels is overlapped and joined, as with pronged rivets.

As is readily apparent, the bottom closure provided by the present invention is extremely simple, requires no expensive materials, machines or labor to produce, and is very strong and durable. The bottom wall panel cannot be removed from the track except by reopening the last closed side closure of the receptacle or by deliberately cutting the track or breaking the panel itself. The track though flexible so as to conform to the shape of the bottom wall is not sufficiently flexible to permit the removal, of the bottom Wall panel by bending of the lips. In addition, the line of stitching securely holds the track in place against even the strongest of pressures to which an article of the presenttype is subjected.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a device in which the several objects of the invention are achieved, and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be under.-

M mie stood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described the invention, there is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent:

1. In a handbag comprising a receptacle having a pliable wall with an edge: a closure including a stiff panel, a connecting means constituting a two-ended flexible, elongated track member of synthetic plastic constituting a wall lying flatly against the pliable receptacle wall and two spaced parallel lips in one piece with and extending perpendicularly away from said member wall to define a track in which the periphery of s aid panel is fully seated, andrectilinear means securing said track member wall to the wall of the receptacle along and adjacent said edge.

2. A combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the track member wall extends between and projects beyond the lips, and wherein the rectilinear securing means engages the said projecting portion of said member wall. 3. A combination as set forth in claim 2 wherein a reinforcing strip is provided which covers the associated edge of the receptacle wall and the adjacent projecting portion of the track member wall, and wherein the rectilinear securing means engages said reinforcing strip.

4. In a method of making a handbag including a flexible wall and a stiff wall, that improvement including the steps of applying to said flexible wall a two-ended flexible track with the ends of the track adjacent edges of said wall, securing said track to said flexible wall, inserting a portion of the periphery of the stiff wall in the track, bringing the track around the remainder of the periphery of the stiff wall, and then joining the said edges of the flexible wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

